A Certain Lawful Ensemble
by Ragner
Summary: A sequel to A Certain Angelic Finality, Ryusuke returns from Liberal Arts City to learn more about his past than he'd like, and with Akiha's past quickly catching up to her can he help her, face his demons and still stay sane? Contains canon pairings and OC X Misaka 19090.
1. Transfer Student: The Ultimate Cliche

Author's Note: Thank you for following me, this is the second sequel in my "A Certain" story if you've followed me, cookies for you! If you haven't and just viewed this story because it's new I highly recommend going back to read A Certain Mystical Esper and A Certain Angelic Finality first. But enough of that and on with the story!

Chapter 1 Transfer Student: The Ultimate Cliche

After escaping the war-torn battleground that was Academy City the Salmon Reds were picked up within the day by the US coast guard. As the white ships pulled up to the over sized lifeboats, cheering erupted from student and tourist alike.

As much of a shame as it was that all our baggage had to be left behind on the soon to be destroyed island, the most important possession I had was safely secured on my arm with the majority of possessions I lost mainly being clothes and toiletries. While on the topic of clothes, Kuroko was several feet away lamenting the loss of her suitcase.

"Onee-sama! You don't understand! I have to go back! I can teleport back and get back to this lifeboat in time!"

And it sounds like she's kicking up quite a fuss too.

"No means no Kuroko. I lost all my things too but we can just get them again." Misaka said as she tried to stop Kuroko.

"But... But... My swimsuit collection! My swimsuit collection I brought specifically to seduce onee-sama! I must have it! I must seduce you onee-sama! Guhweh!?"

"All the more I don't want to let you go!" Misaka yelled as she slammed her fist into Kuroko's temple.

Thankfully we made a short stop on the way to the airport for clothes as most of us were still in swimming suits; the main attire of Liberal Arts City. Although I picked a relatively cheap clothing store to buy my clothes I was almost not surprised when a familiar sounding sales girl asked whether I was alright.

"I'm fine thank you. Though I think I might prefer this in size M."

"I'll get it right away sir." the girl said as I heard her rushing off.

"N-no thanks there's no need for..."

Before I could stop her, the red haired sales girl came bursting in with the M sized shirt I wanted, catching me topless as I glared at her, "Akiha, stop fooling around already. What happened to the sales assistant?

"She's taking inventory so I decided to take advantage of being able to serve you!" Akiha said flashing me a grin, "and I must say you really need to tell me how you stay in shape."

Grimacing as I grabbed the shirt Akiha was holding, I growled, "Stop staring."

"Aww don't be like that, I like my men in shape." Akiha said with a knowing grin.

Unfortunately the shape she was talking about was actually a direct result of overuse of my Energy Manipulation ability. As a side effect of consuming energy in my body to perform tasks not possible by normal means my body metabolises everything I eat without storing anything resulting in no net weight gain or loss. Technically being the ultimate weight loss program also means I keep looking on the underweight side.

As Akiha bade me farewell as she found her own way to the airport, I rejoined the rest of the students on the large bus that the teachers managed to rent as we took a slow ride to the airport. After the usual roll call and lack of a baggage check, we were all ushered onto a plane bound for Academy City as we got on school by school Hayato and I getting on first as he took a seat in the third last row while I got stuck in the window seat in the very last row.

I think I know why he took the third last row now, it smells like someone got sick here and the air crew wasn't able to completely get rid of the smell.

As a red haired flight attendant walked past I quickly tapped on her shoulder, "Akiha is there any soap or deodorant back there?"

"Why? Did you?" Akiha said before she smelled it too, "Ew, I think you should just move across to the other side, it smells fine over there."

Well that works too.

Shifting over before other students took up the remaining seats, I heard the chatter of rich girls as the Tokiwadai students boarded the plane last taking all the first class seats.

That's social segregation for you right there. Though I think I saw Misaka sitting with Saten and Uiharu in Economy, Kuroko creeping after her from First Class to sit behind her with an aura you would associate with some pedophiles.

"Excuse me, are these seats taken?" a girl asked me as I was staring at the front.

"No they aren't, oh hi Kanegawa-san and... Kanegawa-san.."

My voice trailing off when I saw Senako, I immediately averted my gaze and looked down both out of shame and fear.

"Please, call us by our first names, after all we've been through I'm surprised you haven't already. Are you feeling alright Ryusuke-kun?" Himemiko asked, sitting down next to me and pressing a hand to my forehead.

"I-i'm fine... Just a bit uneasy that's all..." I said, gently brushing her hand away.

"Is it about what happened to Senako-chan?" Himemiko whispered into my ear.

"H-how did you...? I-i think so? Umm..."

"U-ummm... Thank you for saving me... you've really helped me a lot..." Senako mumbled as she spoke towards her knees.

"I'm sorry I couldn't get to you in time." I said, bowing my head towards her.

"N-not at all... If you didn't get your friend to call Himemiko I... probably won't be here..."

As an uncomfortable silence settled among the three of us, the captain started speaking in English, the translation software translating the announcement into what seemed to be the usual pre-flight speech and safety lecture.

As Senako strapped herself in and looked around the plane, I had a feeling it would be a long flight home.

While talking to Senako and Himemiko during the flight, time seemed to pass by quickly as we talked about everything from hobbies to our past. Though I didn't go into great detail about mine it seems Himemiko did not come from an ideal background as I thought she would have coming from an impoverished family and being left here by her parents in hopes that she would have a better life.

"Hayato promised not to tell anyone and you're the second person outside my family to know." Himemiko whispered as Senako next to her started to nod off.

"I see... I never would have guessed really. So is life in Academy City hard for you?"

"Not especially... life in Kirigaoka is extremely fulfilling, I learned how to be a proper lady there." Himemiko said with a smile.

"That's good. In my school the class next door likes to fool around while my class is ruled by an iron fist..."

"Sounds like you have it hard." Himemiko said with a girlish giggle, "But unfortunately for me I have to transfer soon."

"Hmm? Why?"

"My scholarship term ends in a few days and I don't have enough to pay for the school fees unfortunately." Himemiko said, looking a little downcast though trying not to lose her smile.

"Oh... And student allowances aren't allowed to be used as a method of payment right?" I asked.

"Yes... So I guess I have no choice but to leave Kirigaoka." Himemiko replied with a slow nod.

"What about Senako? Is she staying?" I asked quietly.

"Her scholarship is safe. Scientists are no closer to solving the mechanics behind her ability than finding a cure for cancer."

"I wouldn't be too sure, they're coming up with a new vaccine that is showing promising results in rats." I replied with a knowing grin as I started manipulating my web browser in the corner of my vision to pull up the relevant medical journal to maker sure I was right.

"Is that so. Well I guess I'll be school hunting when I get back I guess."

"You could always consider mine." I said a little too quickly.

"Hmmm? I'm sorry I would have to decline, you're from Nagatenjouki right? It might be a little too expensive without a scholarship."

"Heh, I'm just a nobody. Why would Nagatenjouki want me? Nah I go to the high school in district 7 that's between Tokiwadai's outside dorm and the Garden of learning. Fees are cheap and the students are great to be around."

"The one used for the Level Upper rehab? I see... But why didn't you aim for a higher school? With your ability you could easily..."

"Scientists sponsor your study if you are of interest to them right? I don't want to be of interest to them. So by extension I don't benefit from scholarships either. It's for the best I think." I said with a shrug.

Nodding at my response, Himeko started to lean back into her chair as she slowly closed her eyes, "You should get some rest Ryusuke-kun, your body is more fatigued than you think."

After the undisturbed nap I took on the flight I returned to my dormitory room with no luggage in tow to see my door open.

I definitely locked my room. Why is it open?

Turning on my Electromaster Personal Reality I slowly made my way to the door determined to shock anyone inside. With my room in almost complete darkness save for the sliver of moonlight sneaking through the curtains I slowly tread into my apartment, the sounds of my heartbeat echoing through my eardrums.

The door behind me shutting with a loud slam I jerked around to the source of the noise only to find a pair of arms wrap around me from behind when I turned around.

Shit! I got careless!

"Got you~" a girl's voice said seductively.

"Akiha dammit stop playing these pranks..." I muttered as I tried to struggle out of her group.

"Nuh uh uh~ you made me expend huge amounts of magic and now its time to pay the price." Akiha said with a creepy giggle.

"Man, she really needs to tone back on your feeding... At this rate I'll stop waking up in time for school." I muttered wearily as I stumbled out of my apartment on my way to school.

After having fed Akiha and collapsing in my bed for the night, my 7 hours of sleep only felt like mere seconds before my alarm buzzed my out of bed and on to the path to school.

As I walked down to the street junction where I meet Len and Tsubaki on the way to school, I paused for a few minutes waiting for them to show.

"Dammit, just how long are they gonna take?" I muttered as I started typing a message out, my hand twitching in midair as I manipulated the virtual keyboard.

With only ten minutes left to go it finally hit me. Tsubaki and Len are still on their overseas excursion and won't be back for another few days. And now I'm nearly late for class.

"Shit!"

Dashing down the street as fast as I could I barely cleared the bell with five seconds to go right before Yomikawa was about to start her class.

"Isha-san, I was about to mark you down for punishment jan." Yomikawa said with a grin.

"Sorry, it won't happen again sensei." I replied with a short bow before sitting back down.

"Alright, let's start homeroom then. First thing's first we have a transfer student."

Immediately at the mention of a transfer student everyone broke out into soft whispers, the sound of murmurring filling the entire classroom. Although the class was half empty, Hayato leaned forward towards me ignoring Takashi's attempts to catch his eye.

"Hey, who do you think it's gonna be?"

"I don't know." I replied with a shrug.

"Well here she is, please say hello to Kanegawa Himemiko jan."

Ehhhhh!?

-End of Chapter 1-

Author's Note: Sorry it took so long to update, I've gotten really busy with school and fell behind on my work so my fanfic writing has to be put on hold. My exams are coming up soon too but I'll try to update often! So you know the drill please review, your reviews make me want to write more!


	2. Grimoire Haze: Book of Law

Chapter 2 Grimoire Haze: Book of Law

You've got to be kidding me, she transferred here!?

Although I haven't been caught in Himemiko's line of sight yet, she would see me in a few seconds as she sweeped the class to look at... an empty seat.

Here I am hiding under my table like a juvenile kindergarden kid. Oh genius me. If Yomikawa could see me now.

As my nervous giggling took a crescendo I saw an awesome set of skinny legs that led to a skirt that was too long to peek up, "So what are you doing under there Ryusuke-san?" Himemiko asked.

"U-ummm looking for my eraser!" I said a little too quickly as I pulled out an eraser I had in my hand the whole time.

"Uh... huh." Himemiko said as she smiled with a grin that broadcasted the fact she knew that I was lying as she sat in front of me, "I look forward to learning with you."

"L-likewise." I replied as I took my seat once more as Yomikawa tapped the blackboard to get our attention once again.

"So with Daihaseisai coming up we will be participating in all of the events, I expect you all to work hard jan."

"Sensei... A-all of them?" Iruko said as he grit his teeth.

"You heard me right Iruko, all of them. And no slacking off! Do your best alright everyone?

"Yes sensei!"

A few hours later, after going through several painstaking hours of class, I breathed a heavy sigh of relief when the lunch bell rang.

"You shouldn't sigh like that Ryusuke-chan, you age every time you do." Himemiko said as she pulled out a small bento box.

"Wow you make your own lunch?" I asked, fishing in my pocket for any spare change.

"Yes, it's cheaper and more nutritious." Himemiko replied as she pulled out a pair of chopsticks.

"Huh, so you're the new girl huh?" Takashi said as she eyed Himemiko, sizing her up.

Flanked by her two bodyguards as usual Takashi twitched her head causing her tresses to jerk over her shoulder, "What's your level?"

"What might you be talking about?" Himemiko asked politely, folding her chopsticks over her bento box as she turned her attention up to Takashi and her flunkies.

"Your ability level! You're an Esper aren't you?! Don't tell me this class has another brainless bimbo." Takashi said angrily before muttering the last insult under her breath.

"Hmm but level wasn't relevant when I applied..." Himemiko replied, tilting her head in mild confusion.

"Are you kidding me? You want to fight?!" Takashi yelled, glaring at Himemiko as she started to raise a hand.

Oi oi, I'm right here.

"You really work faster and faster don't you?" I growled as I started to stand up.

"Relax Ryusuke-san." Himemiko said as she looked at me and back to Takashi.

"I am relaxed. I'm just going to go buy lunch, I'll bring it back here to eat with you ok?"

"I'll be right here then." Himemiko replied with a nod.

"Oi don't just ignore me assholes!" Takashi yelled, conducting an electric charge from Iruko shooting two lightning bolts out one for each of us.

As both attacks fizzled in midair, Takashi took a step back in shock at what happened first looking at Himemiko and then me trying to find out who the culprit was until her gaze finally settled on me.

"You didn't learn anything from our last fight I take it?" I said with a sardonic smirk, Hayato starting to inch away, "Well I'd love to stay and play but if I do I'm sure Komoe-sensei's lot will grab all the yakisoba buns so I'm off. Try not to kill each other while I'm gone."

"You think you can just walk away?!" Takashi growled at my retreating back.

"Yes I think I can. I personally don't feel like doing anything today." I replied as I walked out of the class without looking back.

"Your boyfriend's gone. Who's going to save your skin now?" Takashi said from inside the classroom.

Sighing softly as I leaned on the wall next to the back classroom door, I heard Himemiko say calmly, "Iruko-san, didn't Yomikawa-sensei want to speak to you regarding your homework?"

"What? Why would she want to when I didn't give her... any..."

"Wouldn't you want to hand up at least something? I don't know how she is with her class but she's really quite the Anti Skill." Himemiko said as she smiled up at him.

As heavy footsteps quickly sounded in the class and towards the front classroom door, Iruko started to set a new land speed record towards the library carrying his exercise books as the other onlookers in the class watched in awe as Takashi was left alone with Himemiko.

"So Takashi-san, where were we? I'm sorry for that minor interruption but you now have my full attention." Himemiko said with a genuine smile.

"Tch, this isn't over!" Takashi muttered as she stalked off out of the class.

With the rest of the day passing by rather uneventfully I let out a soft sigh of relief when the final bell rang signalling the end of school.

"Again with the sighing Ryusuke-san, if you're not careful you'd be an old man by the time you're 30." Himemiko said.

"I hope it doesn't come to that." I replied as my eyes rolled to the top right my mind trying to visualise that for a split second.

"Well, I've just moved in to the girls dorm so I haven't unpacked yet. Would you be free tonight? It would be faster if two people tackled it instead of one."

My first reaction to refuse on the grounds that unpacking wasn't a two person job especially if it's only for a single student until my mental gears started turning. Could she have an alternate reason for asking me over?

"Well, if I have no plans for tonight I'd be happy to help." I replied with a smile.

"Oh you have plans? It's alright, I did spring this on you all of a sudden after all."

"No it's fine really, you know how guys are, never deciding whether to go out for dinner or not until half an hour after they get hungry then everything turns into a mad rush." I replied with a snort.

"You really should be more organised, but okay." Himemiko replied as we started our walk back towards the dormitories.

We had barely gotten halfway back when my phone beeped with an incoming message. With Len and Tsubaki still on their study trip and the MIISAKA sisters easily contacting me via the network insntead of my phone I started to wonder who could have sent the message as I moved my arm to tap the top left hand notifications bar to enlarge the notification.

"Is something wrong?" Himemiko asked, noticing my bizarre hand movement.

"N-no just stretching my arm." I replied with a nervous grin as I opened the message with a downwards drag of my hand.

"Sorry to disturb your date, but meet me outside your dorm room in ten minutes. It's urgent, I'll brief you on the way. -Akiha"

Sounds serious, and date...? Wait, is she stalking me?!

Turning my head around to look around for possible vantage points where she could be watching, my phone beeped again as I was doing so, "Stop looking around like an idiot. I'm already gone. Your dorm room. Nine minutes don't be late. -Akiha"

"Something wrong?" Himemiko asked.

"Y-yeah, sorry. I guess something did come up after all. I'll see you tomorrow yeah?"

"Sure, see you tomorrow then." Himemiko replied with a nod.

Dashing off to my dormitory room, Akiha was outside tapping her foot irritably as I arrived totally out of breath.

"You're two minutes late. I told you it's urgent." Akiha said, staring me down.

What happened to her usual joking and flirtatious side?

"When you're done staring at me, dump your bag and lets go. I have a lot to tell you and not much time to do so. Oh and you'll need these." Akiha said, handing me an envelop.

Exit papers...?

"We're leaving the city?" I asked as Akiha broke into a jog.

Scrambling to keep up with her while not losing any of the precious documents in my hands I looked over the papers, "They seem legit but these are falsified, I'd get in trouble for this!"

"That's where you're wrong." Akiha replied, not even breaking a sweat as we headed for the wall that separated Academy City from the outside world, "The ink on those papers will dissolve into water in a few hours. It will get you through the checkpoints but by the time they realise the papers are false there'll be nothing left. Your institutions really do invent useful toys."

Please don't just admit to breaking and entering like that in public, it'd be troublesome if you got caught.

"So... Why the sudden need to leave? You're not running away... are you...?"

Akiha motioning me to be silent as we approached the checkpoint, I calmly handed my papers over to the Anti Skill in the booth before being passing through the gates and out of the city.

That was... too easy.

"Not it wasn't. You would not believe how long it took me to get that thing filled in." Akiha muttered.

Giggling at Akiha's remark, her expression changed again from joking to serious, "Ryu, what I'm about to tell you is highly sensitive and you should not even have knowledge of it. But there is a world of the supernatural that you don't know about, the world that I come from."

"Magic?" I ask with a grin.

"Wait how do you know that?" Akiha asked, visibly shocked.

"You appear using abilities that are not Esper related, a guy I know ran into a complete red headed weirdo that used a brand of pyrokinesis tht totally did not stem from an AIM field. I'm sensitive to these things. I know."

"Well that saves half of my explanation..." Akiha muttered, her hand colliding with her forehead and making a small smacking noise before she continued, "Well then this is the current situation. Do you know what a grimoire is?"

"A book?" I replied, the dictionary definition of a grimoire appearing as I performed a quick search via Glegoo.

"That's a very basic definition of it yes." Akiha replied, handing her papers in at the checkpoint motioning for me to do the same.

Waiting for the both of us to clear the checkpoint before elaborating further Akiha looked around probably to make sure we weren't being listened to before continuing, "Grimoires are books of magic that contain vast amounts of knowledge within their pages."

"You mean that thing you were reading that time I came home? The one you shut as soon as I walked in."

"Yes, that's one of them. The knowledge they contain is toxic to the mind and can cause insanity or even kill the reader." Akiha said seriously.

"You seem to be handling it well enough."

"I'm used to the headaches. What I'm worried about is if others try to read it."

"It's not like you to be so concerned over everyone else's well being." I casually remarked, half expecting a punch in the shoulder from Akiha until I noticed she suddenly looked very down, "Sorry, I didn't mean..."

"No... It's not that... The reason I brought you out here... Is that there's a grimoire missing near here. And Grimoire Haze is after it." Akiha whispered.

"Grimoire Haze?" I asked quizzically eyebrows raised as we walked away from the city on the pavement.

"It's a magic cabal... I used to be part of it as one of their scribes until... They found out what I was."

"No offense but it sounds like you were a peon." I replied with a giggle.

"I'm trying to be serious here Ryu. My job was to read and rewrite the grimoires into forms that could be read without any harmful effects. Only three people were capable of it in the whole organisation. I was told they'd use it to help people... But eventually they started losing sight of their original intentions."

"If that is true it sounds like the classic case of good gone evil. But what does you being a vampire have anything to do with it? Do they have something against vampires or...?"

"They originally formed to help people... But when a third of our members got killed in a clash with another magic group they became purely focused on obtaining power. When they found out I was a vampire they questioned me on why I didn't try to prevent the deaths of our friends and... I left." Akiha said sadly.

"Oh... So why are they here? Are they behind the grimoire theft?" I asked, patting Akiha's back.

"I'm not sure of the details, but there seems to be a large gathering of magicians near here, that would probably be the best place to start."

As we trekked through the heat, I started to wonder whether I should somehow cool myself using one of my abilities but I quickly killed the thought when I saw Akiha's sweat soaked top. If she knew I was enjoying myself without her she would probably kill me out of jealousy.

"I wouldn't kill you, greviously harm you would be enough... If you have time to think about how you can dissipate the heat for yourself, why don't you do it for both of us." Akiha groaned as she wiped more sweat off her brow.

"Don't you have your own cooling spells?" I muttered nonchalently, my hand lazily manipulating my email window as I checked my inbox for any new emails I might've received.

"Not unless you want the entire place turned into a frozen tundra." Akiha muttered as she pulled out a tiny notebook and started flipping through it.

"That isn't a grimoire is it." I asked as Akiha stopped in front of an old building used for performing arts.

"No, it's a text that I'm currently studying transcribed from a grimoire. Instead of carrying the actual thing around and risk it getting stolen I transcribe bits and pieces to learn so even if I lose it, whoever picks it up doesn't get a complete copy."

"Smart..." I muttered, wondering why we stopped in front of the Gloaming House, "Sooo... Why are we here...?"

"Amakusa!" a girl's voice yelled from inside the Gloaming House.

"For that." Akiha replied.

Both of us running in looking for the source of that voice, it seemed the Gloaming House was bigger than we though as we searched corridors and floors one after another to no avail.

"This way!" Akiha suddenly yelled, tugging my hand in the direction of the open courtyard.

"What? Why?" I asked, trying to catch up to Akiha as she dragged me along not unlike a kid with a rag doll.

"Someone's using magic from over here!"

With Akiha leading the charge both of us burst from the door at breakneck speed just as Stiyl Magnus, magician, swung his flaming sword down.

Into a hole.

As everyone entered a stunned silence from the sudden appearance of two intruders I gritted my teeth half expecting half a dozen attacks to suddenly fly in my direction until I surveyed the area amidst the stunned silence that settled.

This is awkward.

"What are you doing here?" Stiyl asked, directing the question at me.

"U-ummm..." I replied, not quite sure how to answer.

"Who is this? Comrades of yours?" A red headed nun on platform slippers asked as she regarded us with suspicion.

"I'm Isha Ryusuke and this is my friend Makushou Akiha... She's here with a warning..."

"Orsola Aquinas and The Book of Law are in danger of being stolen by a third party." Akiha said, cutting me off, "We're here to stop them. We will not interfere with your own matters, we're just here on standby in case they try to make a move."

"Assuming we believe you which we don't, who's this third party that we should be wary of?" the redhead nun asked.

"Grimoire Haze. A magic cabal that seeks grimoires to further their own ends." Akiha replied.

"I've never heard of them." Index said.

"They haven't done anything noteworthy. Right now they are only focused on acquiring as much power as possible as quickly as possible."

"Well thank you for the warning but you can go now you don't need to stay around." the red headed nun said.

"Sorry but, who are you? Where are you from?" Akiha asked, tension starting to build between the two redheads.

"Agnese Sanctis, Roman Catholic Church." Agnese replied swiftly, "We have 250 nuns working on finding the Amakusa Catholics, stopping a nobody cabal should fall well within our abilities."

"Nobody cabal it may be but what contingency plan do you have to fight a squad armed with grimoire magic? How much of your forces can you dedicate to fighting them? One wrong move and you'll have wasted forces and valuable time." Akiha replied.

"So why are you here?" I whispered to Touma as the argument got more heated.

"Stiyl kidnapped Index and dragged me out here." Touma replied with a sigh as his stomach rumbled.

"... I also have more knowledge on how they fight so it's obvious that I'll do a better job of containing them."

"How do I know if I can trust you?"

"Enough!" Stiyl barked, his cigarette flying from his mouth, "As long as they don't interfere they can stay right?! We're here under the same conditions so I'll monitor them. Is that agreeable with you?"

As silence settled again over the group, Agnese seemed to think for a while before finally giving a reluctant nod.

This is going to be a long night indeed.

-End of Chapter 2-


	3. Midnight Skirmish: On the Defensive

Chapter 3 Midnight Skirmish: On the Defensive

As darkness settled, an uncomfortable tension started to build as three different parties occupied the same area. It wasn't so much the fact that there was two people unrelated to magic sitting on the sidelines or the fact that there were two Christian denominations within a stone's throw of each other.

The tension was likely caused by the difference in goals between all three sides, and the vast difference in numbers. With only 2 magicians from the Anglican church, 2 Espers, one magician with no affliation and over 200 Roman Catholic nuns I couldn't help but feel small as Agnese barked orders in rapid Italian to her subordinates while writing in a notebook.

"She's not taking notes. She's issuing instructions to the nuns who are out of range and can't hear her. It's basically a master copy that alters all of the other linked copies allowing for messages to be transmitted rapidly over great distances." Akiha said, explaining the answer before I could even ask the question.

"Still, isn't 200 people a bit overkill for one book? No matter how desperate you are there's no need to send this many people down. I can only imagine the scene at the airport." I replied, shaking my head.

"That's where you're naive. If I had assets and numbers like them I'd mobilise them all and more. That's the nature of the threat we're dealing with. It is said that when the Book of Law is read, the age of Christianity will end. The fact that it's author is Edward Alexander, the man who brought more magical advances in decades than it took for millenia should be a testament to how dangerous this book is."

"Never heard of him."

Sighing as she snapped her grimoire shut while rubbing her head, Akiha looked at me with her deep blue eyes and smirked, "Of course you've never heard of him. You're from the science side. He is the greatest magician of this century and with both sides being extremely isolated from each other there's no surprise you wouldn't know about him."

"Are you finished with that book?" I asked, nodding at the grimoire in Akiha's lap and trying to change the subject.

"No, I've got a bit of a headache so I'm taking a break before I start again." Akiha replied, our talk on grimoires and their harmful effects coming to the forefront of my mind again.

"Is it from..." I asked, receiving a nod from Akiha in reply.

"Then why are you...?"

"Someone has to stop Grimoire Haze. I'm not sure about the capability of these nuns and those folks from the Anglican church," Akiha said nodding at both sides, "But if Grimoire Haze sends a full assault force the casualties would be extreme and all on my hands."

"Your hands? How would it be on your hands?"

"Simple. I founded Grimoire Haze." Akiha replied, her tone calm as if she was merely forecasting the weather.

"How can you be so calm about that?!" I yelled at first, quickly dropping my voice to a whisper as several nuns looked in my direction.

"It was my mistake... Long ago. I originally founded the cabal to safeguard grimoires and seal them to prevent their misuse. But power corrupts and the cabal started to do the opposite of what they were originally intended on doing, using grimoires to accumulate power."

"And you couldn't stop them?"

"Not without revealing myself for what I truly am."

Giving a curt nod as we both sat there in silence once again, Agnese's orders being translated into Japanese whenever she came close enough for me to hear her I swiped my right hand to the side to close the translation window, not particularly interested in reading order after order.

As the tapping of platform shoes neared for what could be the twentieth time this evening, Agnese beckoned towards us with her left hand and pointed to where Touma, Stiyl and Index were probably asking us to sit with them.

Nodding as Akiha and I got the message, we both walked over to the other outcast group in the Gloaming House grounds before Agnese spoke in not Italian or English as I was expecting but in Japanese, "Ah... erm... I want to start explaining the situation. May I ask if you are all prepared?"

Make that extremely weird Japanese.

No matter which culture you come from, the kind of Japanese she's using is like a the kind someone would speak like if they were taught by someone who wanted them to sound as silly as possible. As Touma gave Agnese a weird look, Agnese started to get even more nervous as her face flushed and her legs started shaking.

"It... It makes me nervous to show my lousy Japanese in front of a... Japanese person... Do you speak any other languages? Preferably something far away like Albanian or Berber..."

"I cahn speek Eenglish..." I slowly replied in extremely fragmented English as I tried to pronounce the words flashed by the translator software.

As Touma's weird look was transferred from Agnese to me, Index's jaw dropped slightly and Stiyl slapped his face with his hand probably to hide either laughter or despair.

"N-nevermind, we should get back to the matter at hand and discuss the situation and actions we're going to take later-AHHHHHHHHHH!"

Her legs finally shaking too much for her to balance on her extremely tall platform shoes, Agnese started to fall and she started to flail, grabbing onto the closest stable point near her.

In this case, it was Kamijou's arm.

As both of them were sent crashing to the ground, Kamijou's face was buried deep into Agnese's skirt resulting in the kind of accidental ero ero scenario considered common in most teenage romance comedies.

As Index screamed and Stiyl facepalmed once again, I quickly performed a hand gesture that brought up the camera function and snapped a few quick photos to show Touma later as he experienced his several seconds of paradise.

As Agnese stood back up somehow on her long platform shoes, both Kamijou and Agnese apologised profusely to each other as Agnese helped Kamijou back up.

Straightening her nun robes, Agnese coughed before starting to speak again, less nervous than before, "Alright, now I'll start on the Book of Law, Orsola Aquinas, The Amakusa Church and our future course of action."

Although she wasn't shaking anymore, Agnese's hand slowly reached out to grab onto something to hold onto, with Kamijou being her closest candidate. However it seemed she was uncomfortable with the thought of holding a boy so she settled on Index's robes instead.

"We have confirmed that Orsola has fallen into the hands of the Amakusa Catholics. However we have set up a perimeter so if they try to leave we will find them." Agnese said, her fingers holding on tight to Index.

"How big's the perimeter?" Kamijou asked.

Stiyl rolling his eyes as if Kamijou asked a stupid question, Agnese turned to him and answered anyway, "About ten kilometers in radius including 132 roads and 43 sewers. Something like this is easy with the numbers we have."

"[I don't envy the nuns in the sewers.]" I giggled through telepathy to Akiha, Akiha only smirking in response.

"However, if they're trying to interrogate Orsola without leaving the perimeter that would make our job significantly more difficult." Agnese said.

"That wouldn't be a problem. Forcing the method out of her, writing manuals on how to decode the Book of Law, all these cannot be done in a day. Not to mention if they stay around without trying to escape their risk of getting caught rises dramatically. Also, in order to interrogate Orsola I'm sure she would be able to resist most mind reading spells so the only alternative is sleep depriving her. And that would take at least 5 days to a week." Stiyl said nonchalently as he breathed out a long puff of white smoke.

As Agnese started to open her mouth to speak, Akiha quickly grabbed my shoulder before looking out over the fence, "[I've got movement outside the fence.]"

"[Catholic nuns?]" I replied, phasing myself out of the ongoing conversation on account of the urgency in Akiha's voice.

"[Impossible. I've already factored in the nuns who are on patrol or conducting their regular business. Also, I might be wrong on this but I don't think the nuns are well versed in concealing magic. With their numbers concealment would be nearly impossible. And even if they were well versed in such magic, why would they be using it so close to they're own base? I think it's an intruder.]" Akiha said, her eyes slowly turning blood red.

"[How many?]"

"[I don't know...]" Akiha replied before her eyes widened.

"EVERYONE GET DOWN!" Akiha screamed, tackling me to the floor.

Moments later, the sound of explosion after explosion rocked the area along with several screams of shock as my vision went white and my sense of hearing left me only to be replaced by a soft ringing in my ears.

"[Stunning magic. Get up Ryu! We're under attack!]" Akiha said, using telepathy because of the loss in our sense of hearing.

As my vision started to clear, the area seemed to have sustained no damage in the sudden blitz but we weren't the only ones affected by the "flashbang" magic as the other nuns looked dazed and disoriented, Stiyl using his body as a shield, placing himself between Index and the chaos.

"Damage to visual and auditory senses detected, initiating combat mode." a voice said as the background programs started to close without me having to initiate combat mode myself.

That's a handy new feature.

Starting up abilities Energy Manipulation, Telekinesis and Electromaster.

Slowly standing to my feet as a pair of figures walked through the solid fence, a man and woman in their 20s surveying the scene.

"I'll have to thank him for the spell, it seems to work extremely well." the man said, brushing some dust off his dark grey t-shirt before flipping open a small notebook.

"So these are the lot after the Book of Law? Not much of a fight in them is there? There were barely any defensive spells around. Are you sure this is their main base?" the girl said.

"It should be, there seems to be traces of magic here from those Catholic nuns."

"Takahara Jin! Minomi Saya! What the hell are you two doing?!" Akiha yelled, her voice quivering with rage.

"Ah, so you're here too Makushou-san. Here to stop us I take it?" Jin said as he fired a single bolt of lightning at Akiha.

Easily absorbing the attack, Akiha countered with a storm of lightning bolts from both her hands as Jin easily stepped in between the forked lightning.

The sounds of cards flying through the air from behind me causing me to turn towards its source, it seems Stiyl was joining the fight as well as he threw several cards onto the ground before invoking his signature spell, "Innocentius!"

The four thousand degree flame monster roaring to life in the middle of the camp ground, Stiyl pointed straight at the two intruders, Innocentius surging forward to attack Saya.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Jin said snidely as Saya opened a small notebook of her own, her lips moving to cast what was probably an incantation as she singlehandedly stopped Innocentius from attacking her, holding it back with her free hand.

"What...?!" Stiyl said through gritted teeth, chewing on his cigarette as Innocentius roared and repeatedly trying to attack Saya to no avail.

"She can mimic magic she's attacked with and imbue herself with the same magic!" Akiha yelled, as she fired spell after spell at Jin as he proceeded to dodge and counter each either via dodging or his own magic.

As the nuns started preparing spells of their own and hurling them at the pair, Jin clicked his tongue in annoyance, "What a bother."

Raising a flame wall to block all the attacks, Jin sent the firewall outwards forcing the nearby nuns to flee or be burnt, Akiha swiftly bringing her hands down, negating the firewall before it reached us.

"So magic is useless on the girl? What about the boy?" Stiyl yelled to Akiha.

"As long as he has that notebook on him magic is useless on both of them." Akiha said, staring at the two with a glare that could kill.

"That's right up my alley then." I said with a smile as I conjured a bolt of lightning in both hands before shooting both at Saya.

"Didn't you hear Akiha-chan? Magic won't work on me...Ah?!"

As Saya held out her free hand to intercept the attack, instead of negating it like she had thought she could, the bolts struck her hand and proceeded to course through her arm before being directed to her heart and leaving her body through her feet.

Although the voltage wasn't lethal it had its desired effect, causing her heart to have an arrhythmia and develop bradycardia as her heart rate dropped to less than 50 beats per minute causing her to fall to her knees.

"Saya?!" Jin yelled, hoisting Saya to her feet only to have her fall again.

"Go! They don't have it here. Go find it I'll be fine." Saya managed to choke out before crumping to the floor unconscious.

"Dammit... I'll get you all for this!" Jin yelled as he let loose another spell that caused the same flash of light and bang we heard earlier, escaping by the time we could see again.

-End of Chapter 3-


	4. Offensive Manoeuvres: Into the Fray

Chapter 4 Offensive Manoeuvres: Into the Fray

Everyone scrambling to recover from the flashbang attack once again, Agnes was the first to respond, "Who were those people?!"

"People from the rogue cabal I was telling you about." Akiha replied, rubbing her eyes.

"Right, well can you tell everything you know about them to my subordinate and I'll get back to it later? I need to continue the strategy meeting." Agnese replied, barking out a name in Italian.

A nun quickly hurrying over in response to what was probably her name being called, Agnese turned to us, "This is sister Alessia, she's quite fluent in Japanese."

"Good morning." sister Alessia said with a short bow, my brow furrowing in response.

"Good evening." I replied, hoping she'd pick up on her mistake.

"Lovely day isn't it?" sister Alessia replied, either unaware of the time or very bad at the language.

["Are you sure we'll be ok with her."] I quickly whispered to Akiha

["We'll be fine."] Akiha replied, starting to speak in Italian.

Akiha receiving a slightly weird look at what I'm assuming was extremely archaic Italian as the translator software did not manage to translate some of the words she was saying, Akiha noticed my stare and the nun's weird look before shrugging, ["Don't look at me like that, I picked this language up two centuries ago. I'm kinda rusty by now."]

As Akiha rattled off with the sister in Italian and Agnes continued the briefing without us, I started to wander around looking for possible clues left behind by the attackers and anything that could lead to a possible weakness that I can exploit.

After several rounds around the camp with no clues or evidence I was either using a method of scanning that was inappropirate for the job I was undertaking or there wasn't any evidence to find to begin with.

Sister Agnes' voice jarring me out of my contemplative state, the nuns started breaking up into groups of 2-4 and started preparing all sorts of what I could only assume were rituals and magical tools of some kind as Kamijou, Stiyl and Index retreated to their tents.

"The briefing is done, we move in 3 hours for a portal that the Amakusa Catholics are likely to take to escape with Orsola and the Book of Law."

"Wait wait, slow down. Back up. Did you just say portal? Like, teleportation, movement across a large distance via supernatural means?"

"Yes, why do you find this so hard to believe? You have teleporters in Academy City too do you not?" Akiha replied.

Akiha's words already lost on me as I struggled to imagine magicians performing rituals to calculate the 11 dimensions needed to achieve actual teleportation and then imagining each magician doing it individually I must have started to giggle because the next thing I knew I was hit on the back of my head by Akiha, "Be serious, they are actually going to use a portal to travel out of here."

"How?" I replied, rubbing my head.

"Idol theory."

"Ok, now explain that as if you're explaining it to a complete magical retard. Which I kinda am."

"Idol theory is when you make replicas of extremely powerful symbols to borrow even a fragment of their power. This takes form in the crucifixes you see on churches and rosaries."

"So they're using replicas of super powerful teleportation?" I asked, tilting my head quizzically

"That's the thing, one of your cartographers in history made a map of Japan that was so like the original, he drew portals onto the map causing portals to form in the real world. It's much more complicated than that but that's the basic gist of it dumbed down for you." Akiha said.

Before I could respond, a ear splitting scream came from the other side of camp, both Akiha and I reacting immediately to the noise dashing around the camp to the source.

What we saw, what the rest of the camp saw, instantly raised a death flag for poor Kamijou Touma as he stood over a fainted sister Agnese and a crying Index.

This is not going to end well...

After watching Kamijou slowly crawl himself back to his tent with a head full of bite marks, I looked at Akiha, "I guess we better take a short nap, they'll need time to prepare and we might as well charge our batteries."

"Alright, you rest first then." Akiha said before pulling out a pair of reading glasses and what I can only assume was a grimoire.

"You're not resting?" I asked as I poked my head out of the tent.

"No, I need to prepare for the upcoming battle. But if you are so intent on inquiring about my well being I wouldn't say no to a small... "donation"."

Akiha shoving me into the tent before quickly making sure nobody was looking as she zipped it up, I started to inch away as her eyes took a familiar red glow.

"Umm, Akiha can we talk about this?"

"Shhh, no talk, just action." Akiha said as she pushed me down.

At that moment, only people really close to the tent would have heard it, but if they tried really hard they'd hear a soft cry, "Nooooooooooooo..."

Several hours later, 11pm finally arrived.

Assembled outside of a theme park called Parallel Sweets Wonderland, everyone was gathered in the parking lot as a large gathering of nuns in black robes, a single nun in a white robe, one oversized priest and a student still in school uniform.

Agnese walking over to Kamijou and the others, I turned to listen as Akiha continued burying her face in her book.

"We've found the Amakusa's main forces at Parallel Sweets Wonderland but there's no sign of The Book of Law or Orsola. Although the probability is low, this may be a diversion. So I can't remove the perimeter or recall our patrol squads. Right now we can only use the manpower we have here."

So basically she's saying in a roundabout way that we're on our own.

"For now I'd like to divide our numbers into two groups. 80% of the main force will act as bait. During tht time please act as guerrillas and investigate the interior of the theme park. Once you find The Book of Lw and Orsola take them back.

"What's the R.O.E on the Amakusa?" I asked, receiving strange looks from at least 3 different people, "Ummm, rules of engagement. What do we do if we encounter Amakusa?"

"Whatever is necessary. Just don't expect help to come if you get in a sticky situation. Take them out quickly if you can if not just run."

As Agnese took a silver rod from a nun beside her, Agnese muttered viciously, "... this is unforgiveable..."

"The promotion of Christianity was originally to save humanity and yet these guys are using their power for such a meaningless purpose. Once they use violence for such a trivial matter others will use even more meaningless violence to stop them Why cn't they understand such a simple chain reaction?" Agnese said, several nuns around her nodding in response.

To a certain extent I can identify with Agnese and her indignation. Every time someone starts a fight more people have to jump in to stop it. For every mess created someone has to clean it up. It's an unpleasant truth but it is a resounding truth nonetheless. But condemning the people who did wrong doesn't make you right. Just because you dirty your hands to keep others clean doesn't make your hands any cleaner.

The world isn't as nice and forgiving as that.

As Agnese smiled with self confidence, she tapped both her platform shoes into the ground causing the thick soles to fall off leaving a pair of ordinary sandals.

"If it's easier to walk like that why don't you keep them off?" Kamijou asked.

"Shut up; it's called a sense of beauty. Wearing thick soled sandals is my own style." Agnese replied.

Accomodating for a lack of something are we?

Kamijou, Index and Stiyl headed off to the worker's entrance to the park while Akiha nudged my shoulder, her book nowhere to be seen.

"[Something up?]" I asked.

"[They're back.]"

Both of us splitting off from the Catholic nuns, Akiha bent low sneaking over to the sound of voices, it appears it wasn't just Jin and Saya we had to worry about. They were accompanied by another pair.

"[Ikosawa Kaien and Hana Rin.]" Akiha said pointing at the boy then the girl.

Kaien seemed to be like your classic rock star with unkempt bright blonde hair, tattoos on his arms and piercings studding his face. Rin seemed to have an air of superiority with her hair in a ponytail tied twice as her hair stretched down to her waist, wearing a formal suit specifically tailored for women.

"[What can they do?]"

"[Well, Kaien usually uses elemental magic but Rin never picked a specific magic focus. That lowers her profiency in whatever magic she's using but it also gives her the element of surprise.]"

"[So do we jump them and take the element of surprise or do we just keep them busy?]"

"[Jump them. Ready?]"

Nodding as I activated Combat Mode, I prepared Energy Manipulation and Electromaster before leaping out of the bush with Akiha.

The priceless look of surprise on all of their faces was a moment I'll savour and enjoy for the rest of my life as Akiha sent Jin and Saya flying back with a large gust of wind. Saya countered the wind blast and landed somewhat awkwardly as she rolled back to her feet while Jin wasn't as lucky. He hit a tree trunk with a large crack and crumpled to the ground unconscious just as a tree branch landed on him adding insult to the unconscious person's injury.

Throwing a lance of electricity at Kaien, he quickly fell backwards as his body spasmed from the shock and continued spasming on the floor as though having a seizure.

Although I definitely lack Misaka's control over electricity I seriously don't see how she can shock people to the point they emit smoke while I barely shock a person and not only do I not see smoke they all collapse while Misaka can continuously zap them over the course of several seconds.

As Saya and Rin rounded on us, Akiha smirked like she had already won, "So what are you going to do now that your main form of transport and treatment is gone?"

Saya and Rin glaring at Akiha as they started to tug at Kaien and Jin both tried to shield their partner before Saya spoke, "Pull back, we can't fight them. Not here or now. You haven't seen the last of us!"

As both of us temporarily went blind from either one of them using the flashbang spell, Akiha breathed a sigh of relief, "I guess we'll get our breathing room after all."

"You think there's more of them?" I asked nervously.

"Definitely, there should be at least 8 of them but I guess they're elsewhere pursuing another mission." Akiha replied as we headed back towards the theme park.

The battle was definitely underway as loud booms and clouds of dust exploded from the entrance where the main force of the nuns were carrying out their diversionary tactics. Kamijou and his group must have sneaked in while the Catholic nuns provided a distraction as I heard the distinct sound of him screaming something about being the decoy again from the other side of the theme park.

As much as it sucks to be used by Stiyl screaming your lamentations about being the decoy only serves to make you more of a decoy as everyone gets attracted to the sound of your screaming.

Nodding at Akiha to split up we both ran down separate corners to widen the search area. As soon I cleared the corridor I stopped and flattened myself against the wall as I heard the sound of footsteps probably heading towards the disturbance Kamijou was causing.

The sound coming and going as they passed me I breathed a slow sigh of relief before clapping my hand over my mouth realising my mistake. To my misfortune, a guy came running back looking for the source of the noise his head poking around the corner right into where I was hiding.

Leaping back and jabbing the combat mode button I quickly activated Plasma Flux and narrowly dodged a slice that would have given me a really nasty gash on my cheek before creating a blade of light in my hand.

A look of surprise crossing his face before he lunged in again, I narrowly dodged the attack by pushing myself out of the way with Telekinesis before swinging the blade at his unguarded left side.

Parrying the attack easily he tried to twist my blade and push me back. He nearly succeeded but he lost his footing halfway during the motion but simply stepped forward and recovered as if nothing had happened.

That recovery was physically impossible to pull off, was that some kind of magic?

While I puzzled over his body physiology he lunged at me again, this time his sword in a stabbing motion as he shot forwards towards me.

Summoning a quick rolling telekinetic wave from behind as I stepped back to trip him, I swung my blade out in a wide arc to make him dodge backwards.

Taking the bait and dodging backwards to avoid my swing, he shifted his center of gravity backwards to avoid my attack just as the wave hit the back of his knees to make him fall flat onto the floor.

What actually happened was completely not what I expected.

Falling backwards, he somehow righted himself in midair before landing on his two feet again.

Come on, that's beyond cheating!

Turning around and running I quickly dashed around the corner and waited to fool him into thinking I ran away and ambush him.

Hearing his footsteps as he ran to chase me I quickly came from around the corner swinging out to his unguarded chest.

As he parried the blow and grinned at my failed surprise attack I did something I wouldn't be proud of in the years to come.

I went for the low blow, right in the jewels.

Wincing as he fell to the floor with a small thud, I hid his weapon before roaming around again.

Hopefully Akiha is doing better than I am...

-End of Chapter 4-


	5. Battle End: Conflict Confusion

Chapter 5 Battle End: Conflict Confusion

With my first opponent down for the count and thankfully no enemies in sight, I was left alone long enough to catch a quick breather and collect my thoughts as I assessed the damage my body had taken by performing a quick diagnostic via Electromaster and Life Wish.

As dangerous as it is to use Life Wish, an ability that may share a compatibility high enough to use without too much backlash, I have not fully grasped the intricacies of the nuances of this particular ability. Like my inability to understand 11th dimension calculations, it will take a lot more time to figure this ability out than others. My forte is physics and not biology.

Couple of bruises here and there and minor clotting issues on a few cuts that I sustained from the last fight. The bruises are not threatening at all aside from small pain when I touch the affected areas and the cuts are clotting not only outside the wound but encroaching on the blood vessel as well. I can correct that afterwards as long as the clot doesn't split off and form an emboli.

The rapid sound of footsteps as a girl ran past me probably to reinforce another area elsewhere interrupting my thoughts, I did not have enough time to hide myself as she ran past, merely glancing my way as she ran past.

Phew, I thought she might have... Seen me there...

The girl running back to get a second look, I had no possible hiding locations and raised my arms in surrender.

Lowering her guard and her rapier I quickly let loose a telekinetic wall pushing her back and temporarily stunning her giving me time to use Dimension Gate and pull out... an unloaded pistol.

Now armed and dangerous in the eyes of my opponent, I silently hoped she didn't know the magazine was empty as I pointed it at her with as much guts as I could muster.

"Are you going to shoot me?" she asked calmly, taking a step forward.

"I don't want to but I will if I have to." I replied, a little shakiness in my voice as I raised the gun to point at her head.

"You don't have it in you to kill. I can see it in your eyes. You have never taken a life." she stated calmly, taking another step forward.

As I gritted my teeth I quickly reached behind me and pulled out a magazine from Dimension Gate and pushed it into the pistol and pulling the catch back in one swift motion.

"Wait you're gun wasn't loaded?" the girl said with a sardonic grin as she rested one hip and lowered her rapier to giggle.

"I-It's not funny, and it's loaded now!" I yelled as I pointed the gun at her again.

Her laughing stopping as she gave me a look full of mirth I fired a warning shot above her right shoulder startling her and making her raise the rapier once again.

"That was a warning shot, just back off and we can both walk out of here alive." I said, my arm shaking slightly from holding the gun in the air for so long.

"Nothing has changed, you can't bring it in you to kill me. And your arm is starting to shake either from fear or fatigue either way you can't keep up this charade for long." she said taking another step forwards now only about five steps away from me.

"Rin! We heard a loud noise are you alright?!" a voice came from around the corner, two guys coming to back up Rin.

Well so much for stealth.

Throwing the gun over my shoulder back into a small portal created by Dimension Gate I closed that Personal Reality while opening Pyrokinesis, Electromaster and Telekinesis.

"Three on one is hardly fair." I said as I looked on at Rin and her two friends.

Ignoring my statement, both Rin's friends charged in swords raised high ready to swing downwards.

Twisting my body to slide in between both swords I ignited my left hand and thrust it into the chest of the assailant on the left.

Although he raised his arm to block it I ducked underneath the large horizontal swing of his friend and touched his arm and let off a small telekinetic explosion that shot him away from me and into the wall behind him where he crumpled into a heap.

"Tetsuo! You bastard!" the other boy yelled, him and Rin closing in to attack me simultaneously.

With Rin's rapier stabbing at the center of my chest and the boy's sword slicing upwards diagonally as he aimed for my right floating ribs I quickly shot a precise jolt of electricity at the boy's hands causing the nerves in his hand to spasm and release the sword he was carrying.

Following up with a telekinetically aided jump I leaped over the sword as it flew through where my body was a split second ago I vaulted over the boy placing my hands over his shoulders in mid jump.

Now looking down at him as I performed a hand stand on his shoulders I collapsed the ground below his feet and pressed down using my body weight to sink him into the floor before flipping over and landing slightly clumsily as I quickly regained my balance and turned to face Rin.

With a sharp metallic clatter, Rin dropped her rapier to the floor and raised her arms, "The Pontiff is down. I don't have any reason to fight you anymore."

Shortly after Rin's surrender, nuns from the Roman Catholic church showed up and tied up the Amakusa before leading them off. Now left to wander the theme park in the battle's aftermath, it seemed there was no casualties as far as I could see, but I can only be certain when I've seen the entire park which would definitely be too much effort seeing as they were from a faction completely unrelated to me.

Maybe I should look for Kamijou... But with no definite AIM field finding him wouldn't be easy unless I call out to him.

Using a series of taps and swipes, I brought up a map of the theme park on the lower right corner of my vision using the nearby buildings to pinpoint my exact location in the park. There seems to be a large stage in the center of the park I could probably start from there and spiral outwards.

After several minutes of walking I heard a scream come from the northwestern area of the park. Although it didn't sound like anyone I knew, I quickly ran around several more corners and found the stage area where a man was forced to sit cross legged on the ground tied up by all sorts of what I could only assume were magical traps.

Two Catholic nuns approached Kamijou and started talking to him and although I couldn't her what they were talking about, Kamijou suddenly got frustrated and said with a small amount of irritation in his voice, "Come on! Do you have to be so fussy about regulations? Where's Agnese? I'll talk to her directly.

As I walked over to join him, Kamijou tapped the taller nun on the shoulder and pushed passed her probably to find the Agnese the leader of the nuns.

As the tall nun reached for the whell on her back, I couldn't help but feel something was amiss. What was the wheel for? If it was for a vehicle why did she only have one? Where was the others? Could it be a weapon?

Ducking behind the nearest set of benches, I barely had time to lower myself below the bench backing before Index yelled, "No Touma-!"

Tugging Index down behind cover as well, I could not reach Touma in time as the carriage wheel in front of the tall nun exploded sending wooden shrapnel in all directions.

The shrapnel embedding themselves into Kamijou's stomach, legs and his arms as he barely brought them up in time to protect his chest and face sent him flying backwards from the impact.

As Index screams, the cross legged man tries to stand up, several of the cards activating and causing his hair to get singed forcing him back into his sitting position.

As the shorter nun starts to panic she looks at the taller nun and says timidly, "S-sister Lucia! I-is this really alright? Didn't Sister Agnese tell us not to have any conflicts with our guests?"

"Shut up Sister Angelene! Damn, this is why I proposed to not allow the outsiders to act on their own, and we should chase them away quickly! All the blame will have to go to that Agnese, giving such a naïve order to leave them alone. Now she's really given me quite a fix…"

As Sister Lucia glares at Kamijou with a look that can kill from a distance I quickly did a check on Index to make sure she sustained no injuries before vaulting the bench to face the nun.

"If this guy wasn't suspicious about that scream, this'd be so much simpler… Damn it, what have I done wrong? I've been touched on the shoulder by a non-believer! Sister Angelene! Quick! Get me some soap- no, some sanitizer! This is too much! Damn it! Tell me the next time you want to talk to me! I have to wear the mud-blocking apron!"

While motioning for Index to stay still, I peeked over the bench and was about to fire a lightning bolt to counter before she could attack again until I heard Kamijou screaming.

Turning towards the source of the screaming, I watched as the pieces of shrapnel vibrated and started pulling themselves out and back towards Sister Lucia, reforming her broken carriage wheel until it was almost like new.

New and dripping with blood.

"Sister Angelene!" Sister Lucia called out, the shorter nun jumping at being called all of a sudden and pulled her money bags off her belt.

As she started using an incantation that I could not clearly hear, its effects became apparent rather quickly as the bags glowed and started to fly. The green bag hurtling towards us at breakneck speed, it barely missed Index before hitting the ground causing it to crack.

Index crawling away from the crater formed by the attack, she suddenly tripped as her legs were tied together. Upon closer examination, the coin bag's purse string had wound itself around her feet and tied itself tight into a dead knot.

"Dammit... Index!" Kamijou yelled, trying to run over to Index likely to dispel the coin bag but was forced to turn his attention to Sister Lucia as she leaped over him to attack him again.

With Kamijou under attack from Lucia and Index from Angeline I grit my teeth as I started to charge up a lightning bolt to fire at Angeline. Throwing out two bolts wouldn't be much of an issue but with Kamijou standing in between me and Lucia and as I don't fully understand his negating powers I don't have a clear shot at Lucia and even if I did Kamijou might negate it.

Firing a shot at Angeline as she whispered commands to her coin bags, the bolt narrowly missed her head causing the red coin bag to fly off course into Lucia knocking the wheel out of her hands.

"Sister Angeline...! You...!" Lucia growled.

"N-no! It wasn't me...!" Angeline replied cowering under Lucia's glare.

"The other three, gather at one spot and stick together."

At the sound of Index's voice, the green bag around Index's feet unwinds and flies with the blue and yellow bag towards Angline's face and stops just before hitting her with a loud clang and fall to the floor.

I guess the miss wasn't my doing then.

"The bags of gold represent Matthew, one of the twelve Apostles. He once beat two fire dragons using just the cross and prayer. Infusing angelic power into the coin bags can change them into aerial weapons that will automatically lock on to enemies."

Index says, explaining the mystery behind the coin bags.

"But your method is crude, the chant is long and is not encoded making it easy to stop it."

Before any of us could react any further, a sharp whistling noise sounded from across the park, Angeline and Lucia jerking at the sound.

"It's the retreat order! Let's go Sister Angeline!" Lucia yelled as she started to run off, picking up her wheel on the way.

"B-but we haven't defeated the enemy yet Sister Lucia!"

"Never mind leave them, that British Puritan is releasing the other Amakusa. We have to prioritise Orsola!"

As Sister Lucia and Angeline fled, I quickly deactivated combat mode letting out a short sigh of relief as the pressure of multiple Personal Realities slipped away like water through cracks.

"Now you understand?"

Addressed by the man sitting cross legged behind us, everyone turned to face Tatemiya Saiji as he looked up to the sky, "This is what the Roman Catholics do, the largest Christian sect beneath the surface."

-End of Chapter 5-

Author's Note: Woo finally got this done after so many months, sorry readers who waited so long for this update, school got busy, my holidays got clogged and I got distracted every time I sat down to write. But, no excuses! Here is the chapter!


	6. Straightforward: Storm the Front

Chapter 6 Straightforward: Storm the Front

While Kamijou, Stiyl, Index and Tatemiya gathered together to talk, I started to wander the park looking for Akiha.

Having split up from her before I wanted to find her first to decide our next course of action. With Orsola gone it was likely that Grimoire Haze would start to make their move soon. As much as I wanted to call out to make finding Akiha easier, I couldn't be sure that there were no more enemies in the park and giving away my position would give rise to ambushes that were not in my favour.

Not detecting any movement in the surrounding area I lowered my guard slightly only noticing a pair of hands shooting out of a darkened alley to my right when it was too late to respond.

"Well well, look what I caught." a familiar voice said, like a spider toying with its prey.

"Dammit Akiha, what are you doing? We've got to move, the Catholics have pulled out already." I replied through gritted teeth.

"Hush hush, this is what happens when you force me to use magic. I get hungry." Akiha said with a girlish giggle as her eyes turned crimson red.

Letting out a small sigh as I relaxed my body for what was about to happen, Akiha leaned into me to the point that I could feel her heart beat as she slowly bit down on my neck and started drinking my blood.

After she was done she quickly licked the area to close the wound and smiled, "I guess we should meet up with the others hmm?"

By the time I returned with Akiha, Tatemiya had left. As Kamijou took his slow walk out with Index and Stiyl, I quickly ran up to catch up before mimicking their pace.

"So what's everyone doing?" I asked, Akiha falling in behind us.

"Tatemiya's gone to regroup, Stiyl insisted on taking Index back to Academy City."

"I see..." I replied as I fell silent as well.

"Will Tatemiya succeed?" Kamijou suddenly asked, looking at Index.

"There is some chance since he's a real magician, and the Amakusa, who're used to being

suppressed, are rather skilled in doing this. He won't be stupid enough to try and take on an

enemy when there's no chance." Index replied.

So I guess Tatemiya went to save Orsola and his comrades. Looking at Akiha for some kind of hint on what we were going to do receiving only a shrug in response, I took a look back in front as we continued walking.

"Oh, yeah, before we go home, I have to buy some things. At this time, the supermarkets and department stores should be closed, and there're only convenience stores open. But there's nothing in the fridge, got to buy some food… oh, well, I'm interested in what the convenience stores outside Academy City are selling. Maybe we can find bentos inside." Kamijou said suddenly.

"…Touma, why are you so concerned with everyday life now?"

"I'm sorry, I'm an ordinary student who recently began to like remembering things."

As Kamijou turned and started to walk in the opposite direction, Stiyl heaves a deep sigh as he pulls his cigarette to the side of his mouth to inhale.

"Dammit, like we don't know where he's going. I wish he won't be so rash." Stiyl mutters as he throws away the cigarette butt and starts lighting a new one.

"Where's he going?" Akiha asks, moving to walk next to me.

"Where else? That way goes to the church. He's probably planning to jump in and do something crazy."

"Shouldn't we follow him then?" I replied.

"I didn't want to go in immediately because we were supposed to handle this without him. Not that it matters now since he's jumping in headfirst." Stiyl growls as he turns to walk down another road.

As we reached the church, Stiyl started walking around the fence as if looking for a spot to hop over.

"Ummm, that place with the overgrowth looks like a decent spot to climb up."

"That's not what he's looking for. There's a boundary spell cast on the church. If we just carelessly break through we'll tip off everyone inside of our presence." Akiha explained as we slowly followed Stiyl.

"The barrier's solid. Probably maintained by a magic relic of some sort. We'll have to make our own hole." Stiyl said, throwing down his finished cigarette and extinguishing it with his foot.

"There's a weak point here, give me a moment." Akiha said, squatting down in front of the fence a few meters away with her hand outstretched, "Done, go through and hop the fence without moving and we shouldn't alert anyone."

Everyone making it over the fence easily, a tall spikey shadow approached us from our left too tall to be Kamijou. The moonlight hitting his face when he walked out of the shadows as none other than Tatemiya Saiji.

"You made it through the barrier with no problems I take it?" Stiyl said, pulling out another cigarette.

"Yeah, sneaking through was easy. The barrier was so blatantly obvious, they didn't even attempt to hide it." Tatemiya replied casually, hefting his large sword on his back.

Before anyone could say anything else, with a sound akin to glass breaking, both Stiyl and Tatemiya started looking around wildly.

"What happened? Did Kamijou just jump through a window or something?" I whispered to Akiha.

"He broke the barrier. Basically it's like setting off every alarm in the place." Akiha replied, with a small sigh.

"That idiot! He's going to get himself killed!" Stiyl growled as he ran towards the main church hall.

"You two with me, I need to free my comrades!" Tatemiya said, beckoning to us both as he ran in the opposite direction.

The three of us running down the narrow corridor, a group of nuns immediately blocked our way wielding an assortment of medieval weapons.

"You're in the way!" Tatemiya yelled, swinging his sword over his head once before bringing his weapon crashing down on the first nun.

Although she raised her spear in an attempt to defend herself, Tatemiya's sword simply cleaved right through the weapon's haft, separating it into two clean pieces. Following up with a kick to her midsection, he easily sends the nun staggering backwards into her comrades as he continued running on.

"You both go ahead, I'll take care of this." Akiha said with a nudge as more nuns started to arrive from behind us.

With a quick nod I continued running on, tapping the combat mode button activating Plasma Flux, Electro Master and Energy Manipulation.

As Tatemiya and I entered the a building that seemed to be designed as housing of some sort, we came across another group of five nuns this time armed with what I could only guess were magical weapons.

Barely ducking behind Tatemiya in the nick of time, Tatemiya swung his sword above his head once again deflecting the first volley of fireballs that the nuns shot before running forward.

"Can I leave this to you?" Tatemiya said as he shoved a nun back with the hilt of his sword, looking over his shoulder back towards me.

Giving only a curt nod in reply, I quickly created a plasma flux barrier in front of me to block the next wave of fireballs, the fireballs curving around the semicircle barrier I had created to hit the wall behind me.

The nuns immediately preparing another volley of fireballs before I could counterattack, I quickly focused on the tips of torches trying to absorb the fireballs as they were created only to be bombarded by another wave.

It seems that if I am unfamiliar with the concepts and rules behind the fireballs and until I understand the theory behind their creation I cannot manipulate the attacks directly.

The next set of fireballs hitting my barrier again, the nuns started to move around me trying to move around the barrier to get a clear shot.

Lowering the barrier as I raised my other hand in an attempt to widen the next barrier that I create, I quickly ducked as I blocked the three fireballs directed at me allowing the two on either side pass over me harmlessly. Both fireballs missing their intended target, hit the opposing nun catching both by surprise as they crumpled to the floor.

As both nuns stared stunned at the sudden fratricide incident, I quickly charged forward with the barrier, pushing one nun into the wall hard enough to knock her out and make her slump to the floor before rounding on her allies.

The nun on my left shooting a fireball, I quickly ducked under it and zapped her legs causing them to go numb from the shock before knocking her on the back of the head.

One nun left.

By the time I turned around, I was just in time to see her collapse, Tatemiya having finished rescuing his comrades and doing the honours with the hilt of his sword.

"Let's go. We don't have much time." Tatemiya said, beckoning for everyone to follow him to the exit.

-End of Chapter 6-

Sorry for the massive delays, I've been getting busier and busier! I've been getting requests to design a character and write a story for another fanverse but all of that hasn't even started in the face of my sheer amount of IRL work to do. As per normal, read, review, flames will be used to stoke marshmallows!


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